It sure has been a while!

Just like the title says, it sure has been a while since I posted. The picture posted above is just one of the shots that I have from when we went to Brazil.

I'm currently deployed, so haven't been doing much in the way of quilting. Over the past few months, I have visited Rio and Valparaiso and of course, San Diego. We'll be in San Diego for a bit, so I'm checking out the things to do around here.

I do want to put in a plug for (those in the San Diego area) a fantastic coffee shop...it's called Lestat's coffee house on Adams Ave. Let me tell you, this is the best coffee I've had in quite some time!! (And free wifi too, which is how I am updating my blog right now!)

Well, tata for now.

Block Lottery: String Blocks

Well, here are the blocks that I made for the Block Lottery at about.com (http://forums.about.com/n/pfx/forum.aspx?nav=start&webtag=ab-quilting ).

A look at all eight blocks below.

Here are the blocks a little closer:

What's Been Going on Lately?!?

Well, I think I finally have a free moment to post some pictures...so, here goes...

The quilt above is called "Major League". All of these blocks came from a baseball block swap done several years ago at About.com. I'm happy to say that this is no longer in my UFO pile....

The quilt pictured above is called "Bunny Hop". It was a gift for a co-worker in celebration of their new bundle of joy.

The quilt pictured above is "Helen's Hug." These blocks were put together by a group of fine and caring individuals from RCTQ. I made a call for Hug blocks for my MIL, and these people stepped up to the plate and sent in blocks. As a result of everybody's hard work, Helen received her much needed Hug.

Talk about out of date!

I never really realized how long it has been since I last posted. Between the ship schedule and college course work, there isn't enough time in the day. I finally have a few days off (in a row), so I'll be able to update my blog with the latest happenings with my quilts, dyeing, and painting. So, be prepared.....I'll post again soon.

Another Try.

Well, it appears that when I use Microsoft Word to upload my blog entry, it doesn't also upload the pictures. So, I am back to the old way of doing things for now. At any rate, the picture above was supposed to go with my last post. These are all of the fabrics that I have recently dyed...

Boy, Did I get behind….

Geez, I can't believe I haven't posted here since mid-March. I apologize for that one. Let's see…what have I been doing? Ah, yes. Anatomy and Physiology I and Statistics…lol…those take up a bunch of my time.

I have been spending quite a lot of time dyeing fabric though. The other weekend I dyed to the tune of 56 yards of fabric! I know, sounds like a lot. But it was fun and I think I have another UFO in mind for it. I've also been working on this year's Hoffman Challenge quilt. I can't post pictures of that yet, so you'll have to be patient. J

 

Who Would Have Thought!?!

Who would have thought that I really enjoy working on crazy quilt blocks. I had no idea that I could actually get into this whole beading and hand embroidery thing.

The two blocks to the left belong to two ladies from the yahoo group FabricLoversSwap. A group of us are participating in a round robin with crazy quilt blocks. My addition on the left block is the white heart with beads and the pink stitched seam treatment. My addition on the left block is the heart within a heart and the seam treatment with the red beads.

A Rainbow of Color (Juli L.) - Yellow

This month's 12x12x12 color is yellow. I experimented with some different types of yarn and couched them onto the top of my quilt.

I've found that I really enjoy making this small quilts. They are a great way to use up scraps, and should hopefully shape up into a really neat project at the end of the year when this particular challenge is over.

Fabric Painting

Today Zoe, Tessa (Zoe's friend), Tyler and I painted some fabric. Tyler's is still outside drying, but here are pictures of the ones that the rest of us did. We used the Setacolor transparents and then used the sun printing technique. Zoe and Tessa's sun printing items were some of the littlest pet shop animals. From right to left: Tessa's, Zoe's and my paintings.

Fabric Dying Fun!

The kids and I dyed some fabric about a week ago or so. We had a fantastic time! But boy oh boy were Tyler's (Age 3) hands blue! Zoe (Age 11) ane Tyler painted thier dye on with paint brushes. I did also...the leftover dye was used to immersion dye a couple of fabrics that had been previously dyed. Zoe's piece is the very top of the row of three, followed by two pieces that I painted. The immersion dyed fabrics are in the center picture. Tyler's dye painted fabrics are the two side by side.

My Birthday Quilt: Birthday at the Lodge

In 2005, I participated in a birthday group from the newsgroup RCTQ. A group of us made one block for the others in the group and sent them out on their birth month. Well, mine is finally done. I opted for a lodge themed quilt.

The picture above is a closeup of the center. It turned out quite nicely. Now just to add a sleeve on the back so I can hang it in my living room.

February 12x12x12

My February 12x12x12 is done. My journey into color explores Orange this time. I opted to just randomly lay out pieces of orange fabric onto my batting and backing and machine quilt it down. I once again zigzag stitched the edges to give me some "room" when I go to put all of my 12x12x12's together at the end of the year.

Too long...sooo much homework...

Sheesh! I apologize for the time gap in postings!

I haven't been able to do much in the way of sewing, quilting or fabric painting/dyeing recently. I have been completely overwhelmed with work and course work for the college classes I am taking. Who would've thought that I would be writing so much for Biology...I kind of figured it with my Psychology class, but Biology?!? Oh well, it's well worth it in the grand scheme of things.

That's it for now. =)

January 12x12x12 Revealed: A Rainbow of Color: A Journey into color and technique

Well, I know some of you have been waiting patiently for this, so here it is. My January 12x12x12 challenge. It may not look like much, but I have a grand plan when all 12 of these are done.

This is the beginning of "The Journey into Red". Doesn't look like much, but boy did it take some time to pick the colors I was looking for.

Here all of the edges are turned under and in their final resting place.

I opted to quilt and embellish at the same time, so these are all machine basted together (back, batting, and top).That is the finished product. I used a Madeira metallic red thread for the embellishment on the seams. I opted to satin stitch the edges with the same metallic thread. I decided not to use a traditional binding to give me more options at the end of the challenge when I put all of my pieces together.This is a closeup of some of the stitching. I know it isn't a very good picture, but hey...I'm no photographer. I used all of those fancy stitches on my sewing machine to embellish the seams. This piece may call to me for further embellishment later on with beads and such...but as of now it hasn't...

A Quick Note

Just wanted to drop by and let everybody know that we had a fantastic time at Great Wolf Lodge this past weekend. Boy was everybody beat when we got home on Sunday.

I hadn't realized how much work it actually is to chase a 3 year old around a very large indoor waterpark. It turns out, Tyler has no fear...NONE...he ran right into the wave pool without even blinking. Water slides, no big deal. We had to have gone down the water slides at least 50 times before the weekend was over.

My 12x12x12 quilt is complete, just have to get some pictures taken....

Something New...

Today I spent the day with Aaron walking around the outlet mall in Williamsburg. I splurged on myself and bought a pair of running shoes to fit my running style. Who would've thought that I would buy myself specialized running shoes. This fitness things is for the birds.

We're spending the weekend at Great Wolf Lodge with the kiddos. I'm sure that they are going to have a blast and we'll all come home exhausted.

This evening, I decided to work on my 12x12x12 challenge. Boy is it neat to work in a manner that I haven't really worked before. I had no idea how exciting all of those stitches on my Bernina are. And, I found that Madeira Metallic thread is an absolute dream to work with. The only time my thread broke was if I was going way too fast. So, I just slowed down and didn't have any more frustrations.

No pictures today. I'll keep all of you in suspense until my quilt is finished.

Sandstones and Seashells

So, as promised, here is my latest batch of hand dyed fabric. These were dyed using a 30 step graduation kit.

This piece has a smattering of all 3 colors used to dye the fabrics above. One thing I learned this time...It is a good idea to place your baggies of fabric and dye (if using baggies to dye in) in a large bowl. Fortunately, I did. Otherwise I would have had blue and purple countertops...

I think they turned out great (at least relative to batch #2). Now, what to do with them...

Jill and Laura's Quilts

Well, Dad sent me the pictures via email yesterday, so I can post the pictures of the quilts that I gave to Jill and Dan and Laura for Christmas this year.

"Star Struck" was given to my sister Laura. Boy did I want to keep that one for myself. It was made with stars from a swap on about.com with alternating Carrie Nation blocks. It is backed in a black with multi-color spot flannel.

"Bluebirds in My Flower Garden" was given to Jill and Dan. It is a pattern by Pat Sloan. The border fabric has bluebirds sitting on a phone line, hence the name.

Joys of Christmas

Everybody got lucky this year with gifts of quilty things. Aaron's prodding to get projects done seemed to have helped.

This quilt was made for Jodi. "Football Fantasy" was a joint quilt made with Aaron. It has all of the NFL team logos and is backed with Washington Redskins fleece.

This quilt was made for Cali. "Trump the Deck" came from a set of blocks that I won at a Peninsula Peice Makers guild meeting early last year.

This quilt was made for Frank and Sonny. "Quilted Pleasures" is a gigantic quilt. It just kept growing and growing...

Now, if my Dad will ever email the pictures of the quilts that I forgot to take before sending them off to my sisters, I'll get those posted too.

A First for Fabric Dyeing

So, I did this a while ago, but who says I can't talk about one of my happiest fabric dyeing moments?

These fabrics turned out absolutely spectacular! And, this was a first try.

Needless to say, I had a second try that didn't turn out so well. Let's just say that all of the fabrics turned out to be a pukey sort of grayish color.

I'll post my third fabric dyeing experience here soon. They turned out pretty well. I did figure out what I did wrong the first time though...I forgot to add the activator after a added the dye solution. OOPS!